Friday, 6:30 p.m. (PREGAME) – High School Football, 7 p.m. (KICKOFF)
Join Mike Ridaught (Play-by-play), Sam Petosa (Color), & Jake Ricker (Stats/Halftime/Postgame) for this small school showdown from Gilchrist County.
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
‘Live’ audio: https://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WPLL
Thursday, 6:15 p.m. (PREGAME) – High School Volleyball, 6:30 p.m. (FIRST SERVE)
Join Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) & Davis Johnson (Color) for this city showdown and regular season finale. Buchholz won the first meeting 3-1 on Sept. 24.
‘Live’ & ‘Archived’ video: https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/the-prep-zone/game929a2a5d0?maxpreps=maxpreps
Wednesday, 7-8 p.m. – “The Prep Zone” Sports Show (broadcast from Sonic Drive-In on 39th Avenue in Gainesville)
Join Mike Ridaught as he talks high school sports. His guests for this week include Oak Hall football coach R.J. Fuhr and members of the Eagles’ 8-man football team, which is currently undefeated and ranked No. 1 in their division.
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
‘Live’ audio: https://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WPLL
Defending 5A state champion Ponte Vedra remains on top of the all-classification regional rankings
GAINESVILLE – The top-ranked team in The Prep Zone Power Poll for the fifth straight week is Ponte Vedra.
The defending 5A state champion Sharks (12-0) remain the No. 1 team in the all-classification regional rankings for the fifth straight week after a 3-0 sweep over previous No. 11 Fleming Island (Orange Park).
Ponte Vedra received all six of the first-place votes in this week’s poll.
Creekside (St. Johns) (12-1) continues to jump in the poll after moving from seventh to fourth last week. This week they move up to second following huge wins over previously No. 9 Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) and No. 12 Bolles (Jacksonville).
Forest (Ocala) (10-0) drops to third despite a perfect week with sweeps over Dunnellon, North Marion (Citra) and Belleview.
Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (9-5) moved down to fourth after going 5-2 on the week, keyed by a big win over state power Berkeley Prep (Tampa) and going 3-2 at the prestigious Tournament of Champions this past weekend in Wiregrass Ranch.
Santa Fe (Alachua) (16-8) remains fifth after going 4-2 with a sweep of Gainesville earlier in the week, followed by a 3-2 mark at the Tournament of Champions.
Rounding out the rest of the top 10 is No. 6 Vanguard (Ocala) (9-2), No. 7 Newberry (15-3), No. 8 Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (12-2), No. 9 Bell (15-3), and 10th-ranked Fleming Island (11-6), which moved up one spot from 11th.
Dropping out of the top 20 this week were previously No. 18 Branford (8-6) and No. 20 Buchholz (Gainesville) (4-13).
Moving into the top 20 this week was No. 16 Weeki Wachee, which enters the poll having won nine in a row and 26 of its 27 games this season. Only once have the Hornets (9-0) gone four sets all season long.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball teams (regardless of FHSAA Classification) across 26 counties in North Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union and Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
The Prep Zone Power Poll – 2020 Volleyball Poll #5
(School, city, classification, first-place votes, overall record through 10/4, and total voting points)
1. Ponte Vedra (5A) (6) (12-0) – 120
2. Creekside (St. Johns) (6A) (12-1) – 109
3. Forest (Ocala) (6A) (10-0) – 107
4. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (9-5) – 106
5. Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (16-8) – 94
6. Vanguard (Ocala) (5A) (9-2) – 91
7. Newberry (1A) (15-3) – 82
8. Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (6A) (12-2) – 76
9. Bell (1A) (15-3) – 75
10. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (6A) (11-6) – 66
11. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (9-7) – 61
12. Aucilla Christian (Monticello) (2A) (11-0) – 40
13. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (7-5) – 38
14. East Ridge (Clermont) (7A) (5-2) – 35
15. St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) (2A) (12-0) – 32
16. Weeki Wachee (4A) (9-0) – 30
17. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (8-6) – 28
18. Providence (Jacksonville) (11-2) – 23
19. Gainesville (6A) (10-5) – 18
20. St. John Lutheran (Ocala) (2A) (11-3) – 16
Receiving votes: Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (4A) (9-5) – 5, Trenton (1A) (9-3) – 4, First Academy-Leesburg (2A) (12-3) – 2, Lecanto (5A) (8-1) – 1, Episcopal (Jacksonville) (3A) (6-2) – 1.
We’re happy to report that we ended up broadcasting a total of 13 ‘live’ high school sports games/shows in the month of September. The goal for October is to at least match that number.
We’re also excited to announce that we will be broadcasting the high school football playoffs AND high school basketball on 106.9 FM. We hope to have a hoops broadcast schedule in the next couple of weeks.
Here is our broadcast schedule for the week of Oct. 5:
Wednesday, 7-8 p.m. – “The Prep Zone” Sports Show (broadcast from Sonic Drive-In on 39th Avenue in Gainesville)
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
‘Live’ audio: https://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WPLL
Join Mike Ridaught as he talks high school sports. His guests for this week include Oak Hall football coach R.J. Fuhr and members of the Eagles’ 8-man football team, which is currently undefeated and ranked No. 1 in their division.
Thursday, 6:15 p.m. (PREGAME) – High School Volleyball, 6:30 p.m. (FIRST SERVE)
Buchholz (Gainesville) at Gainesville
‘Live’ & ‘Archived’ video – https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/the-prep-zone/game929a2a5d0?maxpreps=maxpreps
Join Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) & Davis Johnson (Color) for this city showdown and regular season finale.
*We are hoping to do video for this game but we are working through some technical difficulties. Worst-case it will be an audio broadcast online.
Friday, 6:30 p.m. (PREGAME) – High School Football, 7 p.m. (KICKOFF)
St. Francis Catholic Academy (Gainesville) at Bell
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
‘Live’ audio: https://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WPLL
Join Mike Ridaught (Play-by-play), Sam Petosa (Color), & Jake Ricker (Stats/Halftime/Postgame) for this small school showdown from Gilchrist County.
XX
THE PREP ZONE’S WEEKDAY COVERAGE:
**For our Gainesville audience, tune in to ThePrepZone.com Sports Report presented by SunState Federal Credit Union every weekday morning between 7:50-7:55 a.m. on 106.9 FM in Gainesville. These are a little over 60 seconds in length and air Monday-Friday.
**For those in the Tri-County area, tune in to ThePrepZone.com Nature Coast Sports Report presented by SunState Federal Credit Union every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:28 a.m. and repeating at 5:28 p.m. They are two minutes in length and air on 93.1 FM & 940 AM in Chiefland/Trenton and 96.3 FM & 1240 AM in Cross City. Listen LIVE here**
**Tune in to our weekly radio interviews talking high school sports on ThePrepZone.com Sports Report presented by SunState Federal Credit Union on WRUF-98.1 FM & 850 AM in Gainesville every Thursday at 4 p.m. on “The Tailgate” with Jeff Cardozo & Pat Dooley**
Here are the current standings, followed by this week’s games and last week’s results:
Joshua Wilson (FloridaHSFootball.com): 48-7 (.873)
John Patton (Ocala Star-Banner): 43-12 (.782)
Corey Davis (Gainesville Sun): 42-13 (.764)
Mike Ridaught (The Prep Zone): 40-15 (.727)
Marty Pallman (The Prep Zone/Bishop Kenny football): 40-15 (.727)
Tyler TenBieg (The Prep Zone): 37-18 (.673)
Here are this week’s games:
Fleming Island (Orange Park) (4-0) at Oakleaf (Orange Park) (2-2)
Lafayette (Mayo) (3-1) at Dixie County (Cross City) (3-1)
Hilliard (5-0) at Branford (3-1)
Hernando (Brooksville) (2-0) at Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (2-0)
Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (2-1) at Bolles (Jacksonville) (3-1)
West Port (Ocala) (2-0) at Vanguard (Ocala) (1-0)
Ponte Vedra (4-0) at Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (3-1)
Flagler Palm Coast (2-1) at St. Augustine (1-2)
Mandarin (Jacksonville) (1-3) at Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (2-1)
Raines (Jacksonville) (1-3) at Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (3-0)
Tyler TenBieg (9-1)
American Heritage
Buchholz
University Christian – X
Camden County
Ed White
Fleming Island
DeLand
Flagler Palm Coast
Lafayette
Vanguard
Joshua Wilson (7-3)
American Heritage
Suwannee – X
Baldwin
Camden County
Bishop Kenny – X
Creekside – X
DeLand
Flagler Palm Coast
Lafayette
Vanguard
Corey Davis (9-1)
American Heritage
Suwannee – X
Baldwin
Camden County
Ed White
Fleming Island
DeLand
Flagler Palm Coast
Lafayette
Vanguard
John Patton (10-0)
American Heritage
Buchholz
Baldwin
Camden County
Ed White
Fleming Island
DeLand
Flagler Palm Coast
Lafayette
Vanguard
Marty Pallman (8-2)
American Heritage
Suwannee – X
Baldwin
Camden County
Bishop Kenny – X
Fleming Island
DeLand
Flagler Palm Coast
Lafayette
Vanguard
Mike Ridaught (7-3)
American Heritage
Suwannee – X
University Christian – X
Camden County (GA)
Ed White
Creekside – X
DeLand
Flagler Palm Coast
Lafayette
Vanguard
The Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Friday, October 2, was Sam Cannon of the Dixie County (Cross City) football team.
Cannon accounted for four touchdowns, including three in the opening half, as Dixie County defeated Trenton on the road, 48-20.
It was the third straight win for the Bears (3-1) and their fourth straight in the series against the Tigers (1-4).
The senior quarterback put the Bears on the scoreboard first with a 13-yard scoring pass to junior Brendan Hall, who had three TD catches on the night. That gave Dixie County a 7-0 lead with 5:01 to play in the first quarter.
After Trenton cut the deficit to one at 7-6 on a 1-yard TD run by junior quarterback Tyler Perry, Dixie County’s Jaydon Malone answered with a 48-yard rushing score to give the Bears at 14-6 lead with 11:00 to play in the first half.
Cannon found Hall again on a leaping 32-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-6 with 7:21 to play in the second quarter, and his one-yard TD run with just 17 seconds to play in the half gave the Bears a 28-6 lead at the break.
Dixie County, which will host Lafayette (Mayo) next week, opened the scoring in the third quarter on a 60-yard TD pass from Cannon to Hall for a 35-6 lead with 9:43 to play in the third quarter.
Every game The Prep Zone will recognize a Player-of-the-Game. The recipient receives a $10 gift certificate courtesy of Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville & Ocala.
Friday, 7 p.m. (PREGAME) – High School Football, 7:30 p.m. (KICKOFF)
Join Mike Ridaught (Play-by-play), Zach Cohen (Color), & Will Levenson (Stats/Halftime/Postgame) for this small school showdown.
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
‘Live’ audio: https://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WPLL
Marty Pallman joined Jeff Cardozo & Pat Dooley on The Tailgate (WRUF-98.1 FM & 850 AM) on Thursday, October 1, for ThePrepZone.com Sports Report presented by SunState Federal Credit Union. Here is a recap of the interview:
Football
Eastside hosts Clay tonight – Struggles continue for the Eastside Rams in their first year under coach Alex DeLeon. In a city rivalry game last Friday the Rams were overwhelmed by Buchholz 54-0 as the Bobcats picked up their first win of the 2020 season. Tonight 0-3 Eastside is back at Citizens Field looking for their first win of the season against the 2-0 Clay Blue Devils. Clay had their game against Palatka canceled last week due to COVID issues but will return to the field tonight against the Rams. The Blue Devils only won one game a year ago but are off to a much better start led by running back Al’querious Ray, who averaged 180 yards a game in Clay’s first two games this season. Eastside won last year’s meeting 42-20 for one of their two wins on the season. Tonight’s game can be seen on The Prep Zone and the Eastside Athletics Facebook Page beginning at 6:45 with kickoff set for 7. There are two other games in the area tonight as Newberry travels to Williston. Newberry has won three in a row after an opening week loss at Hawthorne, while Williston is 2-2 after slipping past Hamilton County 28-26 a week ago. And Saint Francis Catholic, still looking for their first win, hosts undefeated Ocoee Legacy Charter.
More Football
COVID-19 issues have hit the Gainesville High football team. The Hurricanes, who dropped to 1-2 after a 38-7 loss to Trinity Catholic at home last Thursday, had to cancel their game at Columbia this Friday as the entire team was forced to quarantine due to COVID. Next week’s game against rival Buchholz is still on for now but up in the air. Buchholz evened their record at 1-1 with the win over Eastside last week, and travels to Live Oak Friday for a tough road matchup with Suwannee. This is a renewal of a rivalry that was pretty heated in the 90’s. Suwannee is 3-1 this year with wins over Santa Fe and Bradford and their only loss coming to Madison County. Hawthorne is back in action after missing the last two weeks due to COVID issues, and the Hornets host another rival in P.K. Yonge. Hawthorne is 2-0 and last played on September 11. The Blue Wave evened their record at 2-2 last week with a 20-13 road win in Alachua against Santa Fe. The loss to P.K. Yonge dropped Santa Fe to 1-3, and the Raiders have a bye this week. Finally Oak Hall, playing eight-man football this season, improved to 4-0 last night with a 64-6 romp over Kissimmee City of Life Christian Academy.
Volleyball
The schedules have picked up for many of the local volleyball teams. Santa Fe dropped three games to Creekside, Ponte Vedra, and Tallahassee FSU High last weekend in a tournament in Jacksonville. The Raiders are now 12-6 and are heading to another top tournament, the Nike Tournament of Champions in Tampa where they will play Tarpon Springs East Lake and Clearwater Central Catholic on Friday. But first Santa Fe heads to the Purple Palace tonight to play Gainesville. The Hurricanes are 10-4 after beating The Rock last night and Bradford on Tuesday, and GHS went 2-2 in the Jacksonville tournament last weekend. It’s been a tough stretch for Buchholz, as their record is now 3-8 after dropping four matches in the Berkeley Prep tourney two weeks ago, but the Bobcats did beat GHS at home last Thursday and travels to Oak Hall tonight. Newberry continues to impress, as they travelled to Jacksonville last weekend and beat Bolles and seven-time defending 1A state champion Sneads while going 4-1 in the tournament there. The Panthers easily swept Seven Rivers Christian at home on Tuesday to improve to 12-3, and host St. John Lutheran tonight.
**Tune in to our weekly radio interviews talking high school sports on ThePrepZone.com Sports Report presented by SunState Federal Credit Union on WRUF-98.1 FM & 850 AM in Gainesville every Thursday at 4 p.m. on “The Tailgate” with Jeff Cardozo & Gainesville Sun columnist Pat Dooley.**
Find out what’s going on daily in high school sports with ThePrepZone.com Sports Report Presented by SunState Federal Credit Union. The 1-minute high school sports vignette is produced by Mike Ridaught and airs ‘live’ every weekday morning between 7:50-7:55 a.m. on “106.9 (FM) I am Country” in Gainesville. The reports are archived for 30 days here.
If you live in the Tri-County area (Gilchrist, Levy & Dixie County), tune in to ThePrepZone.com Nature Coast Sports Report presented by SunState Federal Credit Union on Country Legends Radio. The 2-minute high school sports vignette is produced by Ridaught and airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:28 a.m. and repeating at 5:28 p.m. on 93.1 FM & 940 AM in Chiefland/Trenton & 96.3 FM & 1240 AM in Cross City. Listen Live Here.
Bartram Trail (St. Johns) takes over top spot in all-classification regional rankings as top two teams last week both fall
GAINESVILLE — For the first time in the 2020 high school football season, there is a new top-ranked team in The Prep Zone Power Poll.
Both #1 Madison County and #2 Bolles (Jacksonville) dropped their first games of the season last week.
The 3-time defending 1A state champion Cowboys (3-1) lost 30-14 at defending 3A state champion Florida High (Tallahassee), and the Bulldogs (2-1) lost an overtime thriller in their home opener to then-RV Creekside (St. Johns), 31-24.
Those losses allow Bartram Trail (St. Johns) to move into the top spot this week, as the Bears improved to 3-0 after a 35-21 win over St. Augustine. It was their third win in a row over the rival Yellow Jackets.
Bartram Trail, which moved up two spots from third, received all nine first-place votes in the all-classification regional rankings.
The Bears face a huge test this Friday as they host American Heritage (Plantation), which is ranked ninth in Florida regardless of classification and #21 nationally by Max Preps.
Moving up three spots to 2nd this week is another undefeated team, Trinity Catholic (Ocala).
The Celtics (2-0) rolled 38-7 at Gainesville last Thursday behind a potent rushing attack which included four touchdowns from running back Jamarian Samuel.
Second-ranked Trinity Catholic travels to RV The Villages this Friday.
Madison County drops to third after the loss on the road in Tallahassee to Florida High. The Cowboys look to get back on the winning track this week at Boot Hill against Bradford (Starke).
Vanguard (Ocala) remains 4th as the Knights will finally get their 2020 season going this Friday at city rival Forest (Ocala).
Speaking of Forest, the Wildcats make their debut in the rankings at #18 after a 7-0 upset win last week in their opener at then-#9 North Marion (Citra). The Colts (0-1) dropped 10 spots to 19th with the loss.
Bolles rounds out the top five after the loss to Creekside. The Bulldogs return to action this week with a home game against Palatka.
Creekside (2-1) moves into the top 10 at #10 this week. The Knights face another huge road matchup Friday against Fleming Island (Orange Park), which is tied for 7th with Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville).
Oakleaf (Orange Park) is 6th after rolling past then-RV University Christian (Jacksonville), 45-28. Next up for the Knights is their second Georgia opponent of the season, Camden County, in a home game this Friday.
Fleming Island (Orange Park) (3-0) defeated Ridgeview (Orange Park) 33-10 to move into a tie for 7th with the Lee Generals, who improved to 2-0 with a 25-20 triumph at Mandarin (Jacksonville).
DeLand is 9th after rolling 39-0 in their 2020 opener at Deltona, and the Bulldogs are up three slots from a week ago.
Forest is the only team new to the poll this week.
The Wildcats replace St. Augustine, which was 19th last week but falls out after dropping to 1-2 with the loss to the now top-ranked Bartram Trail Bears.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, volleyball, basketball, baseball & softball teams (regardless of FHSAA classification) across 26 counties in North Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2020 FOOTBALL POLL #4
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
1. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (8A) (9) (3-0) – 180
2. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (2-0) – 158
3. Madison County (1A) (3-1) – 145
4. Vanguard (Ocala) (5A) (0-0) – 143
5. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (2-1) – 141
6. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (8A) (2-1) – 134
7T. Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville) (6A) (2-0) – 126
7T. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (7A) (3-0) – 126
9. DeLand (8A) (1-0) – 98
10. Creekside (St. Johns) (7A) (2-1) – 88
11. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (1-1) – 87
12. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (3-0) – 74
13. Ponte Vedra (6A) (3-0) – 63
14. Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (7A) (2-1) – 59
15. Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (0-1) – 57
16. Dunnellon (5A) (1-0) – 50
17. Flagler Palm Coast (8A) (1-1) – 34
18. Forest (Ocala) (7A) (1-0) – 24
19. North Marion (Citra) (5A) (0-1) – 22
20. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (2-0) – 20
Also receiving votes: Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (2-0) – 13; Baldwin (3A) (3-0) – 12; Mainland (Daytona Beach) (6A) (1-1) – 10; Suwannee (Live Oak) (5A) (3-1) – 6; Wildwood (1A) (3-0) – 4; Hilliard (1A) (4-0) -3; Lake Minneola (6A) (1-0) – 3; Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (5A) (1-0) – 3; Hawthorne (1A) (2-0) – 1; Keystone Heights (4A) (2-1) – 1; The Villages (4A) (2-0) – 1.